Case Study: Rock Chips Corrosion Challenge

The Corrosion Challenge

Gravel and road debris thrown backward from the tires of equipment vehicles in front of your trailers cause significant rock chips. Due to the high speeds of these stones, they often leave very deep dings in your equipment paint finish, typically on structural underbody components, bumpers, and wheel wells.

The deep dings expose the steel to the elements, which causes oxidation in the metal and forms corrosion. The oxidation process undercuts the primer separating it from the steel. The undercutting becomes visible once a rock strikes the vulnerable undercut area, causing the paint to flake off. The exposed steel will deteriorate quickly.

ABOVE: A leading trailer manufacturer performed a rock chip field test. They had a trailer, half protected with CORSOL^® corrosion solutions, half painted with 2K epoxy primer/2K urethane topcoat. The trailer’s painted side has substantial undercutting and blistering areas, leading to corrosion flaking and metal deterioration. After three years of service, you can see the CORSOL^® corrosion solutions surface rock dings do not undercut and blister, which means your equipment will last longer and look good for years.

Field-Proven Solution

Hardworking equipment will endure rock strikes; however, CORSOL^® corrosion solutions can prevent those surface chips from becoming a much larger problem.

CORSOL^® corrosion solutions protection is derived from a process called METAL POLYMERIZATION^® in which an appropriate proprietary liquid copolymer is applied to a metallic surface. A chemical reaction occurs between the copolymer and the metallic substrate, creating a copolymer iron alloy layer that fuses the copolymer and steel. This layer creates non-sacrificial protection against corrosion undercutting and blistering.

Paint is a surface coating that does not chemically bond to the steel. Therefore, when steel is exposed, the oxidation process will grow between the metal and paint finish, separating the paint finish from the metal. The exposed painted metal surface will initially experience undercutting, then blistering, eventually leading to flaking as it spreads.